Conventional lighting systems for holiday and similar decoration have many inherent problems, for example:
Safety
The National Fire Protection Association reported that in the years 2000-2004, 1500 Christmas tree fires caused 70 deaths, 105 injuries and $84,000,000 in direct property damage, resulting from real and artificial trees. According to the US Fire Administration Department of Homeland Security, home decorations and holiday season fires resulted in 2,600 fires and loss of $930,000.000.
These losses were in great part attributable to frayed wires, bare spots, gaps in insulation, broken or cracked sockets, and excessive kinking or wear of wires before putting them up. Often these loses resulted from the use of long lengths of light strands, which frequently became tangled, particularly when stored and reused from year to year, and the lights sometimes became shorted when stored or twisted in a conventional fashion damaging the wires as they were applied both vertically and horizontally over the surface of the tree or other areas.
Positioning and Applying of Lights
Conventionally, most holiday decorators start at the top of the tree or other surface. The long strands of lights, which are frequently tangled, are twisted to accommodate the surface on which they are applied, and usually moved circularly around the surface to be decorated and then downwardly on another level of the surface or tree. This positioning of the lights usually requires two hands to accomplish and, even then, the decorator's motions are contortions to accommodate the surface to be decorated. While most fire authorities recommend that only three strands of lights be connected, to fully decorate the surface additional strands are frequently required and they are usually connected in series or from the same outlet, sometimes even those precautions result in an overload and fire hazard, and many people connect more than three strands together.
The alignment of the lights on a strand can also be a problem, because the bulb may not be in a proper position, frequently because the twisting application of the strand on the surface. For example, if the bulb should be oriented vertically, and the wire are twisted, the bulb will certainly be canted in an undesirable position.
A conventional lighting string requires the decorator to find the beginning, middle and end of the strand, and typically, that is not only difficult but also frustrating as the strands are normally intermixed. With the strands embodying the present invention, there is always a focal point or center for decorating a surface, because the hook or hub provides a starting point for the decoration.
Storing of the Lights
To prepare for storage, the wires must be untwisted and followed over the entire surface and that removal process can be difficult and frequently results in unseen hidden damage to the strand of lights, which is often not notices until the decoration job is completed—and then the strands must be removed, repaired or replaced and the tree or surface must be decorated again.
A great deal of damage can be done to conventional light strands when they are stored from year to year. For example, the wires and lights become twisted and often stuck to one another in an undesirable fashion, putting particular stress on the wires and bulbs and making the separating of the strand for application difficult—and sometime hazardous.
Damage caused by storage of conventional light strands may not be noticed from year to year, and if a short result, it may not be seen. Seemingly small shorts in conventional light strands are particularly hazardous when the strand is applied to an artificial tree, because a short can make the entire tree dangerous.
Creativity of Design
The difficulties in handling and designing decorations using conventional light strands is apparent from the foregoing discussion, because such strands are usually very long, and the movement of the decorator in applying the strand around the tree is inconvenient, stressful, and difficult, and the result is often unattractive. An improper arrangement of the lights on the surface will not only be dangerous, but also may not be attractive, especially where hot or empty spots on the decorated surfaces result. These problems are often not visible until the entire surface has been trimmed, and then the job must be done anew.